For Google Search, ADs plans the keywords for you: real searches people type, grouped into tight ad groups, each with the right match type, and a list of negative keywords that keep your ads off searches that waste money.
Where to find it:
Open a campaign with Google Search ticked. In the Google Search campaign section, A. Keywords is the first part.
Planning the keywords:
- Optional: type Seed words, a few words you want covered.
- Choose the Country and Language. Google's numbers are for the people there.
- Press Plan my keywords (Re-plan keywords once there is a plan).
ADs asks Google's Keyword Planner for ideas from your page and your seed words, with monthly searches, competition and bid ranges, then the AI groups them into tightly themed ad groups and chooses match types. A keyword Google did not supply is never added.
Reading an ad group:
Each ad group shows its name, how many keywords it has and its page. Open it to see:
- Page for this ad group: the page its ad sends people to. Save page keeps it; Open the page opens it. Empty means the campaign's page.
- Keyword and Match (Phrase, Exact or Broad).
- Searches / month, Competition (Low, Medium or High) and Top-of-page bid: Google's own numbers.
- Your bid: empty means the keyword bids its ad group's bid, or the campaign's max cost per click; the greyed number in the box shows which. With automatic bidding Google sets it.
- Why: the planner's reason for the keyword.
- The tick switches a keyword on or off.
With more than three ad groups they fold away; type in Find an ad group or page to open one.
Adding your own keyword:
Under the ad groups, type the keyword, choose its ad group and match type, tick Negative if it is a word to keep out, and press Add.
Negative keywords:
Negative keywords (N): searches your ads will NOT show for. It holds a starter list of words that waste money (free, jobs, salary, career and so on), the AI's suggestions from your page, and your own. Hover a negative to see why it is there, and untick any that would block real buyers of yours. Your customers' own words from the Support Desk and Surveys help find better keywords and negatives.
When searches, competition and bids are empty:
Google shares those numbers only through Keyword Planner, and until Google approves your direct connection the keywords are suggested by AI without them. Your Google Ads account has Keyword Planner, so bring the numbers in yourself, free:
- Press Copy all keywords.
- Open Keyword Planner, choose Get search volume and forecasts, paste, and press Get started.
- At the top of the plan, set the location and language to the same as your campaign. ADs shows which.
- Press the Download arrow at the top right of the plan and choose Plan historical metrics, as .csv. Not Plan forecasts: that file has estimated clicks and costs, not search numbers, and ADs says so if you upload it.
- Choose the file under Upload that file here and press Add Google's numbers.
A new or small Google Ads account sees ranges such as 1,000 to 10,000 instead of exact numbers; those come in as ranges. Once the numbers are in, the link reads Google's numbers are in. Update them from a new Keyword Plan.
Your budget suggestion:
With Google's bids in, ADs suggests a starting daily budget and max cost per click from them, in section C, for example "a $1.24 cap, and $12.40 a day for about 10 clicks". Without bid data it shows no made-up number.
A real example:
The course campaign of yoursite.com has three ad groups: Sourdough course (5 keywords), Sourdough for beginners (4) and Bread baking class (3). After the owner added Google's numbers, "sourdough for beginners" showed 10,000 to 100,000 searches a month, Low competition and a $0.35 to $1.10 top-of-page bid. The free guide campaign still shows "no data", with the steps to fix it.
Tips:
- Keep each ad group to one idea. Its Search ad is written from its own keywords.
- Phrase match is a good default. Use Exact for your best sellers.
- Next, write the Search ads. See Google Search Ads And Creating The Campaign.